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Thursday, June 21, 2012

NBA Finals Game 5 Live Blog

First time I'm doing this, going to talk about the game as it goes along. Refresh the page for updates.

1st Quarter

Only the pre-game intros and the Heat look focused and very psyched up. They are very excited to be in this position and they look ready. Time for the best game of LeBron's career!

How does the scoring in this game open up? LeBron James throwing down the hammer. Uh-oh, it looks like the Thunder are settling for jumpers early on, which is not what they should be doing.

Some really sloppy play so far, with a lot of turnovers from both sides and very inefficient execution in transition by both offenses.

A lot of fouls so far, and wow, Dwyane Wade now has two fouls, which usually means that he would take a seat, but Spoelstra sees his value and is keeping him on the floor. It's too early in the game to take him out, and it's very important for the Heat to get out to an early lead, and in order for that to happen, they need him instead of Mike Miller out on the floor.

Westbrook is really enjoying the pull-up jumper, and while that's alright with me, I'd rather see him attack and get to the rim more.

Here's James Harden. He misses the runner. What a surprise.

Now it really looks like the Thunder are trying the get inside the paint more, but I would like to see more inside passing to really get around the Heat defense.

Oh look, yet another reason why Kendrick Perkins shouldn't be in the starting lineup, he's getting killed by pump fakes, and when he is guarding Chris Bosh, he gets forced out onto the perimeter, where he is not comfortable at all. Hopefully after this timeout Brooks will sub in Nick Collison. Then promptly suspend Kendrick Perkins for being Kendrick Perkins. Maybe they should trade him to the Hornets, he and Rashard Lewis would make an amazing combo there, wouldn't you say?

Second time in this series that Russell Westbrook has gotten the ball stuck up in the rim, he's like the new Shaq, so many backboard issues.

James Harden scored!!!!!!!!

Two huge 3 pointers by Mike Miller, immediately followed by his eternally injured style of running. Then Norris Cole is picking up where he left off from the beginning of Game 4, which a 3 of his own.

Durant with a huge dunk to end the 1st quarter with the score: Heat 31, Thunder 26

2nd Quarter
Looks like Mike Miller is going to be the most prominent perimeter role player for Miami tonight.

Westbrook with a rare missed dunk, channeling his inner Game 4 Thabo Sefolosha.

Harden jacks up another 3, and it goes in and out. This guy's confidence must be non-existent at this point, he can't even hit good, wide open shots, he just got unlucky there.
Chris Bosh has stopped trying to be a jump shooter, and is playing like an actual big man right now. Basically, his mentality is, "I'm seven feet tall, stop me." So far, OKC has yet to accept that challenge.

Wade's third foul and he has to take a seat, but they lead by 12 do it isn't completely necessary for him to be on the floor.

Mike Miller is not 4 for 4 from downtown and all are very big buckets in this game. Great inside-outside play from LeBron, the Thunder have to spend some energy trying to take the inside away from him.

Well, Mike Miller picked up his third foul, and he wanted to stay in. Next possession, he got his fourth foul. See you late in the third Mike!

Shane Battier with a layup? WHAT?

The quarter ends with the Heat up 59-49, and while the Thunder are down by 10, they have shown the ability to make comebacks, so this should be a tight finish.

Only 15 points from LeBron so far, I see at least 20 more points in this game.

3rd Quarter
As soon as the second half starts, Durant knocks down a 3 to cut the lead to 7, they look serious and they want to cut into this lead.

Miami's 3 point shooters came out hot to start the half, with Chalmers and Battier hitting 3s to keep the momentum in the favor of their team.

Just so you know, Harden does have 8 points, but only 1 for 3 shooting, he's 6 for 6 on his free throws, so he's been much more aggressive.

Durant and Chalmers got into it a little before Papa Juwan Howard pulled Mario aside and gave him a stern talking to.

Battier for 3 again, plus falling down. Next possession by OKC, he picks up his fourth foul.

Four fouls on Kendrick Perkins and he is staying in the game, it seems that there is a reason why Brooks is leaving him in, he wants him to foul out so he won't complain about lack of playing time. As I was typing that, he got him fifth foul, but it would have been too obvious for Scott to keep him in, so he sat him down, he's probably going to stick him on LeBron so he gets kicked out. At least that's what he should be doing. Perk is so non-essential to this series.

They just called it a flagrant foul on Derek Fisher for trying to stop a layup by LeBron. That was a very bad call, there was nothing about that play that required a flagrant to be called. That was just stupid and Jeff Van Gundy agrees.

A bad possession by OKC cost them an opportunity to cut the lead, and they are now down by 19 with 3:54 left in the third. I don't care how good a team is at comebacks, this is impossible. This game is over.
LeBron seemed to call a huddle to gather the troops and keep them focused. James Harden looked up at the scoreboard with a very frustrated look on his face. The young guns of Oklahoma City see that the game is out of reach at this point, and hopefully they can use this experience in the future because everyone knows that they will be back in the finals.

Mike Miller is channeling his inner Reggie by hitting a 3 to put them up 25. LeBron is trying very hard to keep the rest of his team focused and not try to get too fancy with their game. He really is embracing the role of the leader on this team, and it's great to watch.

Miller just missed a 3! I don't understand, how did that happen, he's not 5 for 6 from behind the arc.

The Thunder's game seems to be: Bring ball upcourt, shoot 3, give up score, shoot contested 3, commit foul, shoot contested 3. That's not how they need to be doing it. What they should be doing is keep playing their game and hope that the Heat get too arrogant and somehow let this game slip away.

The third quarter ends with the remarkable score of 95-71 in favor of Miami. I can't even explain how that happened.

Just twelve minutes away from LeBron winning his first title and Finals MVP.

4th Quarter
How does this quarter start? You guessed it, Mike Miller 3. Fisher responded with one, then I kid you not, Mike Miller 3.

James Harden hit a 3. Yes, James Harden hit a 3, I can't believe it either. He's now 2 for 7 from the field.

I anticipated that LeBron would come out and score at will, but the thing is, he hasn't needed to do that. His team has been so good that he has been able to play a great game with some help around him. This is why he left Cleveland. With the Cavaliers, he would have to rely on Daniel "Boobie" Gibson and his second best player, Anderson Varejao. The Heat are more than just one guy, they have an actual team around him to support him. Going to Miami isn't a sign of weakness and it didn't show that he isn't the best basketball player in the league. He needed help. He never would have won anything with the way that the Cavaliers were built. The decision is about to finally pay off.

Russell Westbrook is shooting 4 for 20 in this game, that's bad but he's not the reason why they are about to lose. The only reason why they are about to lose is because Miami is about to win. The role players are playing phenomenally for the Heat and that's what is pushing them to victory.

Mike Miller missed a 2 pointer, that's fitting. He should not be shooting 2s at all. He just got subbed out and oddly enough, people will look back on this game from him and see what a great shooting game he had. Yes, Mike Miller had an all-time great Finals performance. The guy who can't run.
Harden hit another 3, miraculously.

OKC has conceeded, they just put in their worst players: Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook, Lazar Hayward, Derek Fisher, and James Harden.

Like my James Harden joke?

Juwan Howard apparently owns a uniform, I didn't know that. Wade and LeBron have exited the ball game and Turiaf, Howard, and James Jones have all come into the game.

Well, OKC sat down Harden and stuck in Royal Ivey, which is an upgrade.

For the Thunder, the only guys left are Reggie Jackson, Nazr Mohammed, and the injured Eric Maynor who hasn't played since early in the regular season. For the Heat, it's Joel Anthony, Dexter Pittman, and the guy in a suit, Eddy Curry. Curry looks more like Michael Sweetney right now. Anthony has really fallen off from being in the starting lineup. They need Pittman to step in and throw some elbows.

Great moment at the end with Durant and LeBron coming together. They are actually good friends, seeing as to how they worked out together over the past summer waiting for the lockouy to end.

Can't help but like Durant, so seeing him break down in tears was a pretty sad moment, but he will be back here, and one day he will hug his mom after accepting the Finals MVP award.

LeBron James looks like he is about to faint with excitement. The trophy looks too heavy for him, he's too drained physically and emotionally. It's just great for him. He has been the best player in the NBA for a while, and now he has the validation.